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Protesters Storm Syria’s Embassy in Cairo

By Robert Mackey January 27, 2012 4:43 pmJanuary 27, 2012 4:43 pm

Video recorded by Syrian activists during the storming of Syria’s embassy in Cairo on Friday.

As Egyptians calling for an end to military rule took to the streets again on Friday, protesters stormed the Syrian embassy in Cairo, smashing an official portrait and waving the flag adopted by opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian opposition activists posted video of the raucous demonstration online that showed protesters emerging from the embassy with a photograph of Mr. Assad’s father, the late Hafez al-Assad, to shouts of “Allahu Akbar,” or “God Is Great.” After the portrait was hurled to the ground, shattering the glass frame, the crowd took turns stamping on the image of the man who crushed Syria’s last sustained uprising, in 1982. The photograph was then ripped to shreds as protesters who made it to the second floor of the embassy building waved the the old Syrian flag from a window.

Syria’s state news agency reported that the attack was the work of “saboteurs, who are funded by Gulf states known for targeting Syria nowadays.”

A Syrian diplomat in the Egyptian capital told Reuters that embassy has surveillance camera video of the protesters who broke through the gates.

Syria’s ambassador in Cairo, Yusuf al-Ahmed, blamed the Egyptian authorities for not taking action against the protesters, who had attended previous demonstrations at the embassy. “It is the same people,” Mr. Ahmed told the Syrian news agency. “We have given a list of names to the authorities, but no measures have been taken.”

Ian Lee, who reports for CNN from Cairo, posted a photograph of a damaged flag pole inside the embassy on Twitter.

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